Infant children have a liquid diet and are generally fed by means of a nursing bottle having a nipple which is adapted to dispense the liquid when the infant is sucking on the nipple. Infants require frequent feedings which involves the holding of a nursing bottle in an inclined position where the infant can easily reach the nipple with its mouth. After being fed, infants often fall asleep and most parents prefer that the infant sleep undisturbed for as long as possible. Very young infants are unable to roll over and have a limited ability to interfere with the feeding process, and therefore very young infants can be fed from an inclined bottle cradled in a towel or other pliable material on or near the chest of a reclining infant. However, a slight movement of the infant, or the changing distribution of the weight of the nursing bottle as the liquid is withdrawn will frequently disrupt such supporting structures causing the nipple to be withdrawn from the infant's mouth or changing the incline of the bottle such that the infant can no longer withdraw the liquid through the nipple.
Some of the prior art devices for feeding a reclining infant provide for retaining a nursing bottle in an inclined position such as those described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,134,746 and 2,050,622. These devices can be easily removed after a child has fallen asleep but they fail to provide a means for holding the nipple in the general proximity of the infant's mouth. Existing devices which do hold a bottle in proximity to the infant's mouth, such as those shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,526,121 and 4,726,551, require that the device be strapped around the body of the infant. Such devices cannot be easily removed without the risk of awakening a sleeping infant.
It would be desirable to provide a nursing bottle holder which would hold a nursing bottle in an inclined position over the chest of an infant and which could be readily removed after feeding is complete without disturbing the infant.